veronica johnson's been monitoring the weather all day. are we getting soaked or what? >> we are and we're not done yet. wendy and jim, we'll pick up more rain overnight and even for a portion of the day tomorrow. take a look at the area under a flash ood watch. that means we've got the potential to see flooding in the area. there have been already areas to look at some flooding across the area. howard county, montgomery, baltimore county under a flash flood warning until 4:15. a watch through tomorrow morning for the rest of the area. here's the radar. the last couple of hours we have had waves of rain come through the area. even at one point a handful of counties under a tornado warning where there was enough breaks in the overcast. that was howard and western baltimore county. now more rain down to the south. the little wave around green county, culpepper, producing about half to an inch of rain already. we are seeing the same witthe

other cluster through western louden county now. rainfall amounts close to three-quarters in leonard town and well over an inch and a quarter in frederick, maryland. our temperatures in the 70s now. anywhere from 77 degrees currently in the district. you folks around mclean at 76. 75 in clinton right now and through the overnight period we'll be getting more wet weather. we'ltalk about how much more coming up. it is going to be moderate, perhaps heavy rain. could get more thunderstorms during this overnight period. now that we are wet, how long are we going to stay wet? i'll have the answer in a few minutes. >> all right. we'll see you then. thank you. >> across the country there is growing frustration with the state of the nation's schools. the numbers are sobering. two-thirds of eighth graders read below their grade level. in math and science american students rank near the bottom with other industrialized

countries. >> today nbc news kicked off education nation with an interview with president obama about the state of education. michelle franzen has our report. >> reporter: at a time when a third of american students do not graduate high school, president obama told matt lauer on "today" there is an urgent need for education reform if amica wants to compete in a global work force. >> historically, when we first set up the public school systems across the untry, we were leaps and bounds ahead of the vast majority of countries around the world. that's not true anymore. they have caught up and now, in some cases, are surpassing us, especially in math and science. >> reporter: the president kicked off the education nation summifrom the white house and included a go of recruit iing ience, technology, english and math teachers. policy makers and teachers

discussed ways to fix a system that's failing too many kids. >> status quo isn't good enough. >> reporter: and not good enough for parents like cynthia williams. she became an edution advocate 20 years ago when her ildren began school. >> my kids didn't get the best education. now i know by the time they got to college, remedial courses. theyhad to take remedial courses. >> reporter: from school policy hurdles to teacher troubles. unions ce under trouble for negotiating contcts that make it difficult or virtually impossible to fire poor performing teachers. new jersey's governor says students continue to pay the price if unions don't look for compromise. >> until they come along either willingly or being dragged along this isn't going to change. >> reporter: call for innovation and renewed dedication to give students a better path to success. michelle franzen,ews 4. >> during his interview with matt lauer this morning president obama commented on the state of d.c.'s public schools.

an audnce member asked whether he thought his daughters uld receive the same great education in a public school as they do now in privateschool. >> i'll be blunt with you the answer is no right now. the d.c. public school systems are struggling. now, they have made important stres over the last several years to move in the direction of reform. there are some terrific individual schools in the d.c. system. i'll be honest with u. given my position, if i wanted to find a great public scho for malia and sasha to be in, we could probably maneuver to do it. the broader problem is for a mom or a dad who are working hard but don't have a bunch of connections, don't have a lot of choice in terms of where they live, they should be getting the same quality education for their kids as anybody else. >> the president said money

can't solve all the problems in the nation's public schools. he said mre resources must be matched with reform which he said includes removing teachers who continue to underperform. ay with news 4 for continuing coverage of nbc's education nation week. coming up at 5:00tonight, we go one on one with michelle ree talking about success and failures >> we have new developments in the trial of an accused drunk driver charged with killing a maryland baseball player. a jury found andre gallo guilty of murder and dui charges in the death of adenhart. it happened in orange county, california. he had just debut with the los angeles angels when a car ran a red light and crashed into him. adenhart and two others wre killed. gallo's blood alcohol level was nearly three times the legal limit.

adenhart grew up in haggerstown, maryland. investigators are trying to get to the bottom of a murder in a psychiatric hospital. susan sacks was found dead sunday morning. police say another patient killed her. 46-year-old saladin taylor is charged with first and second-degree murder in the killing. investigators aren't clear on motive. sacks was committed to the homt for the criminally insane after she was found not guilty by reason of insanity in the 2004 murder of chevy chase therapist joyce hadol. >> pentagon workers need to allow more time to get to work. starting today, new detours are set up to get from metro to the pentagon. the new pedestrian traffic patrns lead to the main visitor trance. officials are moving employee checkpoints farther away from the pentagon on weekdays. the changes are in response to a shooting at the station earlier this year that wounded two security guards and ended with the gunman dead.

>> the national commission created by president obama to look into the bp oil spill has now opened two days of hearings. retired coast guard admiral thad allen led the federal response to the spill. in his testimony he said public perception and not reality eventually affected the actual spill response. allen said bp was the responsible party and took the steps required by the contingency plan, but the pubc perceived bp aseing too involved in the response. >> we have worked with the responsible parties for over 20 years very effectively maging oil spills. but with the enormity of the spill, the uncertainty, the omni directional d indeterminate nature of it real challenged the nation's ability to understand what an r.p. is. >> in the future admiral allen uggested naming an independent industry official to marshal resources for the response would be good and to lend greater

credibility to decisions being made. >> there is a change in traffic patterns for drivers in northern virginia. two new exit ramps are open as part of the wilson bridge product. officials tell us eventually they should make the commute a lot easier. news 4's megan mcgrath reports on how the change went over this morning. >> reporter: some changes for folks who drive to alexandra. two no raew ramps are open. there are growing pains as a result of th new traffic configuration. we saw congestion this morning as people get used to the new traffic pattern. the first ramp will connect motorists on e interloop with telegraph road in the northbound direction. the second ramp provides direct access from the outer loop of the beltway to eisenhower avenue and will allow driverso go northbound on telegraph road. this is going to cut down on weaving and the merging that's

been part of the old trafc configuration. traportation officials say it's going to be safer as a result and, of course, the hope is that it will eventually reduce congestion en everybody gets used to the new pattern. also, the temporary detour ramp on the outer loop to northbound telegraph road is no longer needed. and the two new ramps have opened ahead of schedule. two months ahead of schedule to be exact. that's good news for folks who traveled through the area. bottom line here is that the hope is traffic will get better, that there will be less congestion once folks get used to the new configuration. megan mcgrath, news 4. >> i bet all the cars are poking along like that now. let's find out. ashley? >hey, guys. that was a warm welcome. we had a quiet monday to start off. now things are popping up left and right. we have a big problem growing out of the district. 295 southbound as you approach south capitol is currently blocked at howard road.

the lights are going back to south capitol continuing to the freeway due to major police activity. southbound 295 at howard is blocked. elsewhere to 95. no problems out of springfield. the pace is pretty lighting right now. along the beltw, light doesn't describe the pace. bethesda to silver spring and college park, the main problem will be a new accident that is right over by georgia avenue. only one lane was getting by. as you see before georgia this is the pace, inching along. it opens up as you continue to college park. as you can see in college park, the pace is fine. wendy and jim, back to you. >> all right. thank you very much. president oba today signed into law his small business bill. he calls it a concrete move to put more americans back to wok. republicans oppose it. to sell his small business bill in this tough election year the

president enlist owners of very small businesses. here's more from capitol hill from steve han dellsman. >> reporter: this pizza rear i can't is expanding. it has two locations in the washington, d.c. area and is opening a third. the owner, ruth gresser, in part credits president obama and the small business bill for helping her restaurant and the nation's jobless. >> should we hire, which i think we are going to, employees who have been unemployed for a couple of months then we would get a tax benefit r doing that. >> reporter: at the white house today there was ruth, a guest, as psident obama formally approved the democrats' small business bill. >> it was critical that we cut taxes and make more loans available to entrepreneurs. >> reporter: the $30 billion bill could spark $300 billion in loans. later, democrats would allow a

hike of the top income tax rate that many small businesses pay. critics call the bill a burden. >> there are weome tax cuts small businesses have been looking for but they are, by and large, temporary, small and comptely overwhelmed by tax increases. >> reporter: ruth, already an obama fan, is elated. >> i think this is the kind of action that can benit small businesses. >> reporter: that's the president's pitch as he sieps the bill tt democrats have the plan to get moreamericans back to work. i'm steve handelsman, nbc news, wahington. >> when we continue, two low cost carriers merging. it could mean good lings. coming up, we'll break down the changes. >> keeping tabs on youth offenders. d.c. is trying a pilot program for teenagers that allows them to track their every move. >> jon stewart and stephen

colbert a bringing big business to washington. right here in this neighborhood, i grew up learning strong families and hard work meanopportunity. and that starts with good schools. it's a tradition here in maryland-- and why in these tough times i've put education first. we've made record invements our classroom.. doubled the number of chaer schools... and we've frozen college tuition for four years in a row. and it's working. experts sawe nowave the number one schools in the nation. when it comes to expanding opportunity in every neighborhood, i know that we must do even better.

china, they're busy building wind farms and expanding clean energy manufacturing. but in america, gridlock has held us back. now, the senate can changethat a renewable electricity standard. it will spur development of clean energy and boost manufacturing in america, creating hundreds of thousands of new jobs. so we can make our own energy future - not just buy it frochina.

call your senators and urge them to pass a renewable electricity standard today. four years ago, bob ehrlich got for good reason. first, he protected tax loopholes for giant cable cable. then, he let utilities jack up our rates 72%. and for the last four years, he worked as a hired gun r big corporations, even a bank that took billis from a taxpayer funded bailout. ehrlich sides with corrate executives again and again andn tell bob ehrlich big banks and billionares don't need help. middle cde do. >> announcer: you're watching new 4s at 4:00. >> the biggest discount airline in the u.s. is taking over one of its competitors. >> yeah, southwe airlines announced today it's buying rival discount competitor air-tran. liz crenshaw is here with what it all means for local

travelers. this is ambiguobik news for fly >> the airlines kept it quiet. southwest will acquire air-tra for $1.4 billion. the sale will bring southwest to reagan national airport where air-tran serves currently. it will offer 11 daily flights from reagan national. the sale will increase southwest's presence at dulles and the deal will put southwest into atlanta, the busiest hub in the nation. bwi is the closest hub to us that southwest serves. though they are known for affordable rates industry experts say you may not get the deals y expect in the future. air-tran out of the discount carrier mix does mean there is less competition. soit's a good news/bad news thing. >> so we can plan on playing more to fly southwest? >> jetblue is another disunt

carrier. it flies from dulles and reagan, but by combininging the two airlines there could be a question of whetr the fares go up. >> wh about baggage fees, liz? we know air-tran charges. southwest gives us a break. >> southwest says it will eliminate air-tran baggage fees. southwest doesn't chargeor the firsttwo. that's a help. >> what color will the planes be? orange? >> after the merger, all the planes are to fly under the southwest logo. keep in mind they will continue operate as independent companies until closing the deal which is expected in the first half ofext year. so good news/bad news when you pull a carrier out of the mix, i worry about fares. >>hey are both laid back airlines. >> turning u at reagan is one of the things people like. >> great. >> thank you, liz. >> y're welcome.

up next on news 4 at 4:00, reluctant travelers. why more americans aren't taking advantage of all their vacation days. >> and the feminine side of football. the nfl is reaching out to a growing fan base -- women. [ music throughout ] [ male announcer ] looking for a complete picture of your money? meet pnc virtuawallet. it comes with a calendar that shows you all your finances at once. lets you know when your money's going out. and when it's coming in. it even tells you en you're running low.

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and they were off to the races at the american plant company in bethesda. they decided to make use of the river running through the parking lot. these were the boat races. they actually went acros the parking lot and down the hilln the other side. it was raining that hard. it was quite fun. see, you know, when it rains, you just fashion your little boat and let it go. >> have some fun. >> actually, you know, it hn't been easy on traffic and what he you today. boy, did we need this. >> we have been waiting for it. >> we needed it in a big way. ju don't like it all at once. that's why we had flash flood warnings. getting it in a few locatios, montgomery county as well as around howard county.

could see more of that during the overnight period. look at the cloud hanging low and filled with moisture. this is the tropical storm from the gulf of mexico that's been scooped up and carried our way with a low pressure area, as you will see. the degrees, what it feels like actually wen you factor in the humidity, it feels like 81 degrees. it's a southeastern wind now at 18 miles pehour. so not only showers but we could have isolated thunderstorms, too, coming to our area during the overnight period. any thunderstorm, again, that will bring more rainfall and heavy rains to the area. at 11:00 p.m., look at that. the temperature won't drop much. 69 degrees by 5:00 a.m. here's a look at the moisture to the north. we have a batch to the east around dover. then another line that's pulling

up right east of the mountains, east of the blue ridge from areas east of cumberland to harrisonburg. we e mainly dry. just getting misty stuff, very light showers and then you get into areas around haggersto right there west of culpepper. all of this moving east toward calverton. moderate andeavy rain. just today alone 2 1/2 inches of rain. 71 the dewpoint there. your ranfall today, 1.64. over the last 48 hours, almost 1.75. an inch and ahalf, too, in falls church, virginia. rockville, montgomery county. moisture from the south. more down around the carolas. that will be headed up this way. warm air ahead of it and that's what helped to trigger some of the isolated severe storms we had today. eventually that low pressure system, the upper levelow

around tennessee, that's what will be coming over our area throughout the early part of the day tomorrow. it will get mighty gusty, want to show you the rainfall we expect. another two to perhaps four inches of rain up toward the yellow. we'll show you in a moment. temperatures in the 70s dropping to 64. isolated locations by tomorrow morning. so roadways will be wet. they could be slippery tomorrow morning. when the rain moves out, guys, we get clearing. the highof 80 tomorrow. the second warmest out of the work week. we drop to the 70s, but could have wind gusts tomorrow around 30 to perhaps 35 miles per hour during the afternoon. >> it was thick out there today. >> gunky. yuck. >> i like that word. thanks, veronica. what now for the redskins on this monday after? fans returning to work today to whispers and doubt. dare we say it --éjà vu?

the rams got their first win and ended a 14-game losing streak last night with a win over the burgundy and gold. sam bradford looked like a seasoned vet taking apart the redskins' defense. the redskins stayed in the game until the third quarter. even taking the lead at one point but it was all rams from there on. they went on to win 30-16. now many are wondering if the redskins team has changed at all from last year. >> obviously it's a different team than last year. ihink it's completely different. unfortunately we are in a bit of the same situation. so this team will show cracter in the next couple ofeeks, trying to battle out of a hole. >> the redskins struggled the second half. clinton fortis ended the game with only 44 yards rushing. >> the nfl is now trying to lure some female football fans. they are going to have a new option. it launched a new website today.

the league is working with victoria's secret and destination maternity to design and sell new nfl gear to women. the ads include nfl wives like redskins owner dan snyder's wife tanya sporting a redskins t-shirt. some of the new products include bedazzled jerseys, jeans with logos on the back pockets, flip-flops and yoga mat >> how about a bedazzled redskins yoga mat? dress it up. >> if it will get people into the downward dog, why not? >> there we go. coming up, hot dog. we're going to keep tabs on at-risk teens. d.c. officials have a tool to track you offenders. >> massive flooding in the midwest stranding people in homes. now officials are concerned the levies may not hold.

>> announcer: you're watching nbc 4, washington's news leader. now, live in hd, this is news 4 at 4:00. >> hey, welcome back. i'm wendy rieger sitting in. >> and the storm isxpected to continue through the night. some people were prepared with umbrellas but others were caught off guard. >> on the "today" show president

obama spoke out about the d.c. public school system. someone asked if his daughters could get as goo an education in the public schools here as they do in private school. mr. obama said while d.c. schools has made significant strides they continue to struggle. >> southwest will buy airtran in a $1.4 billion deal. the mega merger would expand coverage in our area adding flights to reagan national and bwi marshall airports. southwest says the company will serve mo than $100 million customers every year. >> torrential rain last week caused widespread flooding in the midwest is continuing cause problems and now is threatening community there is. >> high water in at least three states caused power outages and flooded roads. leenne greg reports on one small community in central wisconsin keeping a nervous watch on aweekend levee. >> in the upper midwest in towns from minnesota to the dakotas,

yards and streets are under water. >> this will be my first fall flood. typically it's a spring flood. >> reporter: in central wisconsin, more flooding brought on by days of heavy rain. a failed levee in portage left stranded residents who didn't heed warnings to evacuate. it's not clear how many remained when rushing waters covered the roads out. others took no chances. >> we took the frniture out, the floorboards we pulled up. >> they kept saying the levee might brch. i wanted tget out. >> reporter: there is more concern that the levee i portage could give way, threatening more homes. in parts of wisconsin, water levels are receding and a cleanup is underway. >> it's a pain in the butt to deal with. i think, you know, i want to live on the water, not in it. >> reporter: in southern minnesota more than ten inches of rain last week forced dozen of other communities to close roads and schools due to high water. as residents stayed busy pping water from their homes and waiting for levels to drop, damage assessments are under

way. lee anne greg, nbc news. >> the district's department of youth rehabilitation services has a new way now of keeping tabs on young offenders. they are tracking them through gps devices on their ankle the pilot program allows case managers to track if teens are attending school and treatment programs. it helps to enforce house arrest. the agency has been criticized over its supervision of youth offenders. just last week a teen was arrested for the murder of a cathol university student. about a dozen youths under the agency's supervision have been charged with murder now. more than six have been killed. maryland police are searching for a tire slasher. looks like he has something against white cars. 31 vehicl were hit this morning in frederick county. all but one of them were white or light in color. police say they don't know the vandal's motive. no arrests have been made.

gamblers have a new place to press their luck. perriville, maryland. the new hollywood casino is open for business today, three days ahead of schedule featuring 1500 slot machines expected to bring in $100 million in annual and state rev. the casino is helping out the local economy. more than 350 jobs have been created there. more jobs could be on the way officials look to recruit restaurants, retailers and other entertainment venues to the area. >> comedy central'sjon stewart a stephen colbert are predicting thousands will come to washington for duelling rallies next month. apparently so are the hotels. stewart's rally and colbert's will be the 30th. hotels have seen a 20% uptake in bookings for the weekend and washington dchotels.com say it is outpacing glenn beck's rally

last month. still to come at 4:00, no matter how hard you try to come up with a password that can't be cracked it's probably useless. how to protect your personal information. >> and misinformation on what's healthy and what's not. your kids may not know the truth about what they are drinking.

>> announcer: you're watching news 4 at 4:00. >> a new study suggests that teens believe sports drinks are part of a healthy lifestyle. although sodas and flavored sports drinks are both high in sugar and calories, teens think a sports drink is healthier. marketing associates a healthier lifestyle with the drinks is fostering the misconception. the study finds teenagers who drinksports drinks were more likely to exercise and eat healthier compared to those who were drinking soda. >> in get healthy for life a middle schoo in connecticut has a high tech way to mak fitness fun. here's more on how video games are being used to keep kids movging and having fun. >> reporter: middle schoolers

filling up a game room is nothing new. unless they are doing it in phys ed class. >> get them moving. >> what do i do? there's so much equipment. reporter: from dance-dance revolution. >> eight people can do it at once or you can do it yourself. >> reporter: to a virtual duel with a martial arts legend. >> beat jackie chan, great. >> reporter: this center seeks to get students turned on to fitness. >> it's taking an interest in video games and giving them opportunities to become physically fit doing activities they enjoy. >> reporter: bikers can go head to head on a virtual course. >> when you're racing you can be cpetitive. if he's winninging you try harder and get youreart rate pumping. >> reporter: runners can take a treadmill tour of places they have only read about in books.

some of the equipment uses fitness to reinforce academic skills. the brain bike works on word naming, arithmetic, even spatial skills. >> they help to train the brain to be responsiveand learn how to learn. >> reporter: the virtual active technology was made possible through an $800,000 gra designed for each student to trac his own progress. >> it tells you all your body mass fat and -- i think it's awesome. >> that is call. the school district hopes to expand the program to high schools and elementary schools. no word on if the local schls plano add exer-game technogy to their programs. >> when news 4 at 4:00 returns the stink bug invion continues. what' up with these creatures? they're everywhere. some awful moments for passengers on a delta flight this weekend. they were prepari for the worst during a really tough landing.

>> announcer: you're watching news 4 at 4:00. >> a mother's instinct takes over and has saved the lives of some rare tiger cubs. in china a dog is nursinging three snow tigers and one white tiger. there are only 200 snow tigers left in the rld. as a result of the unusually large litter the tiger cubs were abandoned by their mother and

left to starve. the dog steps in allowing the tiger cubs to nurse with hertwo puppies. stink bugs continue to make their way to our area with an expert saying it will soon spread to the east coast. insect specialists from the university of maryland say the bugs are showing up from heavy numbers from new york to virginia. in delaware, media outlets are getting calls from homeowners looking for advice on getting rid of them. a university official says to seal up cracks. others say turn the garden hose on them and wash them away. >> they're everywhere. >> and he's in. >> they are on our desk. >> and the one thing the rain has helped with. you haven't seen stink bugs today, right? >> saw one in the newsroom. >> they arall over the newsroom. you can't step on them. that's when they let out the odor. >> just flush tm. >> vacuum cleaner. >> they might crawl out. good vibes going on here.

shoe th shoo them away. if the rain isn't coming down in your area it probably looks like this. look at the washinon monument. hey, folks. we have the potential for high amounts of water in a short amount of time coming from the area that's awfully humid and clouds filled with a lot of moisture now. take a look at the radar now. live digital doppler. we'll zoom in so you can see spots like down through aspen hill, mount vernon okay with southeasterly wind. it's humid. maybe misty once you get to the bay toward the st. we have a line of heavier rain. moderate and heavy rain martinsburg to berriville ahead the motain. this whole line around culpepper and madison is moving in a northerly more than easterly fashion. as it moves across the sam areas, the rain over the next few hours, winchester and also

around martinsburg may be under a flash flood warning later on. now there is a flash flood warning to the north in york county and adams county in pennsylvan because they are getting rain amounts there of an inch per hour. so i talked about how much we could get during the overnight period so it could be anywhere from, oh, upwards of two inches in spots. by the time we go through thursday, because there is more rain moving in this week. for wednesday mainly during the afternoon an a portion of thursday will send our new amounts, rainfall potential, up to abo three to four inches. >> wow. >> ne rain on top of what we've gotten. not everyone picked up the high rainfall amounts. reagan national, oly a quarter of an inch of rain, but during the overnight when that comes down and up from the south down around the carolinas, that's what's going to give us some high rainfall totals even here in d.c. tomorrow morning, 69 to 70

degrees. cooler spots around frederick d winchester. it's not just rainshowers but could have thunder. tomorrow, the high of 80 with all of this moving out. as we clear out, the wind will pick up. windy conditions with gusts 30 to 35 miles per hour. there is the new rain wednesday into thursday. friday now is looking dry. for the weekend, we're back to sunshine for right now. >> 60s, wow. >> we are keeping our eye on the tropics. >> quite cool. >> you cod be getting busy around florida. >> be careful what you ask for. >> we are getting it. >> in a big way. >> thank >> still ahead, the owner of the segue corporation died while riding his segue. >> and they are calling them reluctant vacationers. why so many americans opt to skip the summer getaways and let vacation days go to waste. coming up, it's been a power

struggle with petco and now one company is fighting to keep the lights on. education nation week on nbc. tonight a look at chancellor michelle reed's resumé, successes and setbacks and another reason for people to worry, using the internet to diagnose aches and pains could be the sign of a more serious problem. those stories are coming up in a few minutes. building wind farms and expanding cln energy manufacturing. buin america, gridlock has held us back. now, the senate can change that - by passing a renewable electricity standard. it will spur development oflean energy and boost manufacturing in america, creating hundreds of

thousands of new jobs. so we can make o own energy future - not just buy it from china. call your senators and urge them to pass a renewable electricity standard today. growing, evolving, literally transforming our lives. w imagine the possibilities of what tomorrowould bring. at at&t, we support a core set of standards that will guide the internet into the future... to protect users, and reward innovators, for years to come. we support a fair and open internet - affordable and accessible to everyone. transparent networks, managed in ways that are clear to all users. we support the fcc's plan to bring high-speed internet to everyone in america by 2020. and we are committed to keeping the internet working, as the economic engine that's creating jobs now. working together, investing, keeping information and ideas flowing freely, we can ensure that the internet will continue to grow

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the millionaire businessman who owns the company that makes t segway is dead after an accident on a segway. he was riding near his home in northern england. he went off a30-foot cliff and fell into a river yesterday. he bought control of the company last december. segway is bas in new hampire and the vehicles are used by tour groupsnd police departments across the country. before you shop online, surf the net, check your bank account, you type in your computer passwords. most people believe a password protects your personal business from hackers, but mcafee says hackers are bypassing your pass word by sending you an e-mail posinging as a screen saver. if you open it, the hacker follows your every move letter for letter, number by number. >> you get what we call a

drive-by install on the mahine. without you knowing it, your key strokes are captured, you are beinging watched. >> the best way to protect urself is to avoid e-mail or facebook posts that seem unfamiliar and update your virus-fighting software. most of them can detect and remove password-stealing programs before they do any harm. >> a new study says people just aren't relaxing or even taking a cation at all. accordg to the westin hotel group people who did get away didn't go far. most people took an extended weekend last year and the survey revealed more thanalf of americans failed to take all of their vacation days. >> they're too busy, often doing the jobs of two and three people in the aftermath of cut-backs and they are simply too stressed out to get time away. >> the group says vacations are important because it gives an employee time to relax, sleep and feel refreshed makingng

them more productive when they return to work. >> when we come back on news 4 at 4:00, charter schools are widely praised for boosting staards in public education, but are they worth the taxpayer money required to run them? >> head down, stay down! >> a harrowing emergency landing last night. sparks fly from a plane. we have video from the cabin.

head down, stay down! head down, stay down! >> new amateur video shows the frightening moments during an emergency landi at new york's jfk airport. the plane's landing gear was stuck making the emergency landing necessary. this video, shot by a passeer, sparks can be seen out a window as one of the wings drags along the runway. none of the 60 passengers oard this delta flight was hurt. the nbc special series education nation continues now with a look at the controversy over public charter schools. >> they are touted as an innovative alternative to traditional public schools. critics say they weren't worth the waithen it comes to results. are a he ma ellis has the story. >> reporter: this charter school

has 240 students, a iting list and 100% of the students passed the state's reading test. >> i can say it is the hard work of the teachers and hard work of the parents. >> reporter: charter schools are federally funded but privately run. 5,000 charter schools operate in 39 states and washington, d.c.,ing serving more than 1.5 million students and 300,000 more on waiting lists. >> it is the partnership between parents and teachers in the community to come together in an area where maybe traditional public education has failed. >> reporter: another 11 states don'tallow charters at all. opponents say taxpayer money should be used to fix traditional public schools rather than creati charter schools with less federal oversight which often require students to win a lottery to attend. the former assistant secretary

of education was in favor of charter schools. now her position has changed. >> charter schools d't do better than regular public schools when y look at urban districts, black kids, hispanic kids, low income kids whether they are in public or charter schools it's a wash. >> reporter: she bases her view on a recent stanford study but another study commissioned by the federal government found that charter middle schools were more successful for students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. at noble academy, the charter school model is working. it was the only charter school in the state to receive an excellence with distinction ratg. rahema ellis, nbc news, new york. tonight at 7:00 on nbc nightly news with brian williams a close-up look at the obama administration's race to the top. what makes this program different from all the other

education programs that came before it? >> and that is news 4 at 4:00 p.m. >> stay right there. news 4 at 5:00 starts right now. >> announcer: you're watching nbc 4, washington's news leader. now live in hd, this is news 4 at 5:00. strong storms slam the region from heavy rain and wind to a tornado warning that was in effect. ur crews have been busy assessing the damage as anothe round of wet weather rolls in. well, we signed up for it and we're getting it good, folks. >> toppled trees, power outages. the weather is creatinging problems and it's not over yet. we have live team coverage but we begin with our chief meteorologist doug kammerer with a flash flood watch in effect. >> it will be in effect through tomorrow. that's because we have a lot of rain still in the offing. some areas with two to three inches of rain.

now jus cloud cover around the region. even a couple of breaks in the clouds. any breaks we get could only help to produce some of the strong showers and thunderstorms as well. right now on digital doppler you can see where the rain is off to the west of the district and to the eastern shores seeing rain. the heaviest rain off to the west. we'll show you where the rain is. western portions of louden county and clark. frederick county, virginia, and maryland and around the hage hagerstown area, you are seeing heavy rain there. we'll continue to sethe rainmakinging it to the north. this area cld see one to two inches of rain in the next couple of hours. we could see flash flood warnings here. also watch out. you will see rain moving out of eastern portions of rapahana and culpepper county as well. we have a flash flood watch for the area throh the night tonight into the morning tomorrow with the potential of one, two, three inches of rain. it could come quily, so w